Less than 4% of land in Pakistan is covered with forests.
TYPES
THERE ARE 6 TYPES OF FORESTS IN PAKISTAN.
TYPES
THERE ARE 6 TYPES OF FORESTS IN PAKISTAN.
- The Coniferous forests occur from 1,000 to 4,000 m altitudes. Chitral, Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Malakand and Abbottabad district of KPK. Deoder, Blue Pine, Silver Fir, Spruce and Chir Pine are the common varieties
- The Sub-tropical dry forests are found in Attock, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Jhelum and Gujrat.
- The tropical thorn forests are dominated by xerophytic scrubs. They are most widespread in the Punjab plains but also occupy small areas in southern Sindh and western Balochistan. They are mainly used for grazing purposes, watershed protection and fuelwood. Common species are van.
- The irrigated plantations were first developed in 1866 at Changa Manga in Lahore. Today they occupy about 226,000 ha. Sheesham, mulberry/Shahtoot , babul and species of Eucalyptus and Populus are the common tree species grown in the irrigated plantations.
- The riparian forests grow in narrow belts along the banks of River Indus and its tributaries. They are more commonly found in Sindh and to some extent in the Punjab. Babul, Shisham and Tamarax dioica are the most common species. Khejri and Populus euphratica are some other species. They are mainly used for lumber.
- The mangrove wetlands are located in the Indus River Delta. Other saltwater wetlands are located on the coast of Balochistan such as at Sonmiani and Jiwani. These support mangrove forestry, mainly of species Avicennia marina as well as bamboo species and marsh grasses of Apluda and Cenchrus.